Backed up a defense that stymied Pamlico and held the Hurricanes to 85 yards total offense while picking up a safety, the Devilpups came away with an 8-0 win in a battle of conference unbeatens.

“Our defense stepped up to the plate,” Lejeune coach Darryl Schwartz said. “It was just magnificent. We shut out a team that was scoring 35 points a game.”

Lejeune (8-1) is now 3-0 in the league with a trip to Southside (3-6, 1-2) next week before closing out the regular season at home Northside-Pinetown (5-4, 2-1). Pamlico (5-4, 2-1) is at Jones Senior (0-9, 0-3) next week before its regular-season finale at Southside.

“It makes it easier (to win the title),” Schwartz said. “Northside-Pinetown is pretty good. If we get big heads, we’re in trouble.”

From the opening kickoff on a night of intermittent misty rain, a game that was expected to light up the scoreboard did exactly the opposite as both teams failed to score in the first half.

Lejeune had the ball on the 5-yard line when quarterback Daxton Derrick fumbled and Pamlico pounced on it for a touchback in the end zone.

Pamlico never seriously threatened to score in the half, but suffered serious threats to the rest of its season. Star quarterback Naquan Gibbs and defensive lineman Arthur Randall both were lost for the game due to injury.

“We play really physical and I’m a bit of an old school football coach and we teach the guys to hit hard and they did tonight,” Schwartz said. “We definitely feel for the Pamlico kids that got hurt.”

Sophomore wide receiver Josiah Simmons stepped in at quarterback when Gibbs went down. Simmons fumbled his first two snaps, clearly uncomfortable in the position. One of the miscues, led to a Lejeune safety in the third quarter and the first score of the game when he was tackled in the end zone by Drake Bodine.

The Devilpups added on six more points when Daxton Derrick magically threaded a screen pass through Pamlico defenders to fullback Stephen DiCenso.

“It was a crazy play,” Schwartz said. “The ball got tipped by one of their guys and Stephen did a great job concentrating and made the best offensive play he has made all year.”

Pamlico coach Kevin Yost said things just didn’t go his team’s way.

“I thought our defense played really well. This team is resilient and I expect them to come back stronger after this. We have to persevere through the adversity.”

Yost lauded the play of his seniors and their leadership.

The Hurricanes’ defense held Lejeune star running back Jamaz Richardson to 94 yards on 35 carries.

But it was DiCenso who made the difference on both ends.

He and Pamlico defensive back Quante Lewis waged a war of who could make the most tackles and matched each other tit-for-tat.

“Quante is pound-for-pound the toughest kid in the conference. He’s tough as nails and was for us surely tonight,” Yost said. “Number 42 for them (DiCenso), that kid’s a stud. He’s the real deal and we definitely had some trouble blocking him tonight.”